Lawsuit-Creditor Requests Jury????

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by LisaMc, Aug 5, 2002.

  1. LisaMc

    LisaMc Well-Known Member

    I filed a small claims lawsuit against an original creditor for:

    1. Pulling my credit without permissible purpose (which they later reversed to a soft inquiry)
    2. Reporting bad information after I pointed out to them it was wrong.
    3. Never noting my accounts as "in dispute."

    **These accounts have been closed over 2 years now. All of the violations above are legitmate.

    I received a letter from the court last week. It discusses the benefits of mediation and gives me an opportunity to elect this method of settling our dispute.

    I flip to the last sheet and it says "DEFENDANT HAS REQUESTED A TRIAL BY JURY." What does this mean? I filed in Small Claims Court. We can't even have an attorney, how are they going to have a jury?

    Here are my questions:
    1. Did they (OC) basically bump this hearing up to a higher court?
    2. Has anyone else experienced this?
    3. What should I do? Mediation? Drop it?

    Thanks for the help,
    LisaMc
     
  2. Kiyi

    Kiyi Well-Known Member

    ROFL he can't have a jury in small claims. Object to all, they are idiots.
     
  3. LisaMc

    LisaMc Well-Known Member

    Object to who, Kiyi?

    Wasn't I supposed to get something from the court by now that tells me what the defendant's position on this issue is? I have received nothing but this letter discussing the merits of mediation.

    Regarding mediation, has anyone done this? I could elect mediation with a trial on a future date if nothing was resolved OR I could elect mediaion with a trial on the same day if nothing was resolved. Seems to me that I would want to elect a trial on a future date--make them reappear from Delaware twice (I am in TX).

    Any thoughts?

    LisaMc
     
  4. keepmine

    keepmine Well-Known Member

    Lisa,

    Is there a date on the letter by which you have to notify the court of your selection? I think I'd call the Court Clerk's Office and find out what is happening. At least ask if it is possible for the defendant to bump the case to a higher court.
     
  5. freddiemil

    freddiemil Well-Known Member

    I just learned how to use color.
     
  6. Manequinne

    Manequinne Well-Known Member

    Hi,

    No jury will be there for small claims.

    It seems to be a scare tactic.

    Take a deep breath and follow the advice Keepmine gave and call the clerk's office and see what is going on.

    Good luck....
     
  7. Kiyi

    Kiyi Well-Known Member

    Sorry it took so long to reply, Remember they can't request a jury, NEVER do a mediation ever. It only pays off for them cause then they can have lawyers or a paralegal present to fight on their behalf.

    What I would do is write a request to how the courts recieved their request for a jury trial in small claims, if they didn't send you a copy then its called improper service of procedure then you can motion for a judgment based on that alone.
     
  8. Butch

    Butch Well-Known Member

    Welcome Aboard Freddie
     
  9. Manequinne

    Manequinne Well-Known Member

    Hi,

    Me too!!!!!!!!!!

    By the way, I didn't mean to post twice and change subjects in the middle of a thread. Sorry...
     
  10. DemPooches

    DemPooches Well-Known Member

    I just want to toss one thing in here. Everyone may have just been speaking of TX law and if that's the case then my point is moot.

    While it may be that jury trials for small claims court aren't allowed in TX, (I don't know anything about TX law), they DEFINITELY ARE allowed in South Carolina. Either side can request one.

    The big drawback is they take MUCH longer to be heard, we've been waiting for just over a year for one (on a matter unrelated to credit issues) and the court date still hasn't been set.

    For what it's worth....

    DemPooches
     
  11. lyttlemac

    lyttlemac Well-Known Member

    Regarding mediation, I can just tell you what a relative of mine experienced in small claims court. It was a landlord/tenant dispute over return of deposit, and my relation (tenant) agreed to mediation. The mediator was a kid just out of law school, spent (wasted) 2 hours of time taking notes, and couldn't even figure out one side of the dispute, let alone get anyone to agree to anything.

    It ended up in a stalemate, going back in to the courtroom to be heard before the attorney who was sitting as a judge that day, who as it turns out was a landlord himself. Guess who won.

    That brings up another point. If you get into the courtroom, and they try to get you to agree to be heard by one of the pretend judges (I forget what they called him), just say no thanks and return another time to be heard by a real judge. He/she may not rule in your favor, but at least they usually try to be impartial.

    Just my opinion, but I know I would never agree to mediation, or a "pretend" judge.
     
  12. Kiyi

    Kiyi Well-Known Member

    Well if a Jury is allowed in TX? then thats Great! cause those people will understand what the consumer has been put through cause 9 times out of 10 they will be too. Let them decide when they check out their credit reports and there is a ton of errors or problems. I would get a list of the jurors and request that they pull their credit reports from all the agencies and see how trouble free their credit problems are.
     
  13. LisaMc

    LisaMc Well-Known Member

    I just got off the phone with the Judge's office. DemPooches is right! According to the court clerk, either side can request a trial by jury. In this case, the OC did. I asked "who is the jury?" They said that the Sheriff's office sends out jury summons to about 100 citizens of the community. THey generally have about 35 people who actually show up. A portion of these people would be our jury.

    According to the OC, they sent in a boiler plate denial. They basically said "LisaMc must show by a preponderence of the evidence her allegations. We deny all of the claims against us."

    In everyone's opinion, does it appear that they are actually going to show up and go to court with this thing? I am not asking for $$ from them, just deletion. Of course Small Claims only allows for a monetary judgement. I really thought that I would hear something from the OC by now asking to settle this for deletion. Maybe I am going to have to go through the whole process. Yuck!

    It certainly blows my theory that it would cost them more to try the case than to delete the item (which would cost them nothing).

    Oh, by the way, a jury trial cost them $5.
     
  14. DemPooches

    DemPooches Well-Known Member

    I agree! I have a feeling Joe Consumer would relate and be far more sympathetic to us.

    DemPooches
     
  15. LisaMc

    LisaMc Well-Known Member

    Maybe you guys are right. Maybe I really will have a chance to cash in on a portion of that $5,000 (5 violations X $1K).

    Maybe all of this is just a scare tactic to get me to back down.

    I am still just in shock that they want to go through this process. What have they gained by doing so? It doesnt make sense to me that an offer to settle is still a possibility (after all they paid for a jury trial). Why pay the fee just to settle later? Then again, why pay one cent toward their defense if deleting the item would make the whole issue go away? None of it makes sense to me!
     
  16. picantel

    picantel Well-Known Member

    Only $5 dang. A small claims jury trial here would cost me $280 if I wanted one.
     
  17. Nave

    Nave Well-Known Member

    If they do show up they are foolish! You seem to have necessary documentation that will prove BEYOND a preponderance of the evidence that you are indeed correct.

    If a jury were there (as others have said) they would definitely be more on your side than a judge who HAS to remain completely impartial (juries are suckers for the downtrodden citizen and the big bad corporation).

    As far as mediation goes...in DC we are REQUIRED to go through mediation prior to any and all small claims cases...with me, the other party never showed, so it went straight to trial and then after I explained my case and showed my evidence it was a default judgment. But in either case if mediation does not work, it goes to trial...that is just a means to reduce the case load. If I were you, I could go either way...but it may look good in front of a judge or jury that you tried to settle amicably before taking up the courts valuable time, therefore I would at least consider it.

    My thoughts are that they will turn 180 degrees a few days before the trial date, and offer to settle, stick to your guns. They are trying to scare you any way they can before the trial...again if they actually show up, they are foolish because you have the evidence, and (as Gib says) they would find themselves up an unsanitary tributary without sufficient means of locomotion.

    Good Luck, let us know what happens.

    -Peace, Dave
     
  18. DemPooches

    DemPooches Well-Known Member

    I have a feeling you're right, they're just trying to intimidate you by requesting the jury trial. And if it's anything like this area, they're trying to drag it out.

    We too have required mediation, I believe they call it a settlement conference. It is not mandatory. The magistrate is there, but really doesn't participate except to get the two parties to communicate with each other.

    Here, the case doesn't even go on the calendar until after the settlement conference.

    You might check with the court office and see if the mediation is actually binding or if it might be something similar to the settlement conference concept.

    I'm sure you'll do just fine. Just stick to your guns and stay confident.

    DemPooches
     
  19. keepmine

    keepmine Well-Known Member

    Lisa,

    I would suggest a consultation with a lawyer. They may not be bluffing. I mean, they've not reacted the way you expected from the beginning. You need to seriously see where you stand.

    First of all, do you have any damages from the inquires? I mean this very gently but, expect them to ask why an inquiry is more damaging than a chapter 13 bk? Also, does Texas have a loser pays policy? Should they win, can they petition the trial judge to award them legal fees and expenses?
     
  20. Kiyi

    Kiyi Well-Known Member

    rofl, They are asking for a jury trial for christ's sake!! How can they be serious?! If they did indeed violate her rights, they are screwed no matter which way they turn. Hell they didnt even countersue.
     

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